Vehicle.



A. E. SGHULTZ. fvEmoLB. A APPLIUATION FILED FEB. 24, 1908.

Patented' Amis, .1911.

2 SHEETS-BHSET 2.

MW Jay ze? AUGUST E. SCI-IULTZ, OIE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apg', 18, 1911, Applicationfiled February 24, 1908.

Serial No. 417,283.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST E. SoHU/rz, citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vehicles, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, concise, and eX- act description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification.

My inventionrelates to that class of vehicles having movable meanswhereby their loads may readily be discharged.

The invention finds a most important embodiment in railway dump cars,though I do not wish to be limited to the class of vehicles to which theinvention is adapted, but inasmuch as the invention finds wideapplication to railway dump cars, the preferred form of the inventionwill be describedas embodied in a railway car.

The body of the vehicle, or the car body, may be of any desired materialsuited to the load that the vehicle is to carry, and inasmuch as thisforms no part of my invention I will not describe in detail anyparticular vehicle body. A bottom or floor portion of the vehicle or carbody is mounted to tilt or swing, there being preferably provided forthis swinging floor portion a stationary shaft about which the floorportion may swing. The floor of the car body may be divided into as manyswinging sections as may be desired, the number of sections varyingaccording to the size of the vehicle, the nature of the vehicle and thecharacter of the load that the vehicle is to carry. I provide operatingmechanism adapted to act upon a swinging floor portion to restore thefloor portion to its load-holding position after a load has beendischarged. I desirably so construct the operating mechanism that it maybe sufficiently dissociated from the associate swinging iioor portion topermit the load upon the floor portion to effect a downward swingingmovement of the floor portion when the load is to be discharged, therebyeliminating the manual labor that would otherwise be entailed inlowering the Hoo-r portion.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the swinging floor portionhas an element of the actuating mechanism attached thereto at a placeremoved from the pivotal mounting shaft of the floor portion, whileanother element of the actuating mechanism is mounted upon the vehiclebody, there being associated with the latter element of the actuatingmechanism suitable lever mechanism for enabling the latter element toact upon the former to effect upward movement of the swinging floorportion. In the preferred embodiment of the invent-ion, the element ofthe actuating mechanism that is thus provided upon the swinging floorsection is in the form of a rack bar, while the second mentionedactuating element is in the form of a pinion adapted for engagement withthe rack bar. This pinion is rotated by some suitable mechanism whichmay be brought into coperative relation with the pinion when the floorportion is to be raised, and which may be brought out of associationwith the pinion when the load is to be permitted to effect a depressionof the floor portion.

In present freight car construction, stakes or posts are usuallyemployed for supporting the sides of the cars, certain of which stakesor posts I preferably make stationary and hollow, so that not only maythey perform the function for which they were originally intended, butso that they may also act to house portions of the floor actuatingmechanism, the pinions, in the embodiment of my invention that has beenspecifically men tioned, being disposed within the interiors of thesestakes,i while the rack bars are adapted to pass up and down theinteriors of the stakes.

I will explain my invention more fully by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, showing one embodiment thereof as applied to railway dumpcars, in which drawings- Figure 1 is a sectional end view of a dump car.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a dump car. Fig. 8 is a detail view inelevation, showing a portion of the operating mechanism as it appearsupon the side of the car. Fig. 4 is a side view of the mechanism shownin Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view showing the inte rior of a stake and some oftheactuating mechanism within the same. Fig. 6 is a view in elevationlooking toward the end of the car, parts being shown in section of themechanism that may be dissociated from the operating pinion. Fig. 7 is alongitudinal sectional elevation of a portion of the pinion and rackconstruction and the lever mechanism having separate association withthe pinion.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the right-hand portion of the mechanism shownin Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a side view of the rack and pinion mechanism shownin Fig. 7

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughoutthe different figures.

I have selected for the purpose of illustrating my invention, a dump carmade of sheet metal and in which the stakes are provided upon theexterior of the car body, but I do not wish to be limited to theemployment of sheet metal for the construction of the car body, nor tothe location of the stakes on the exterior of the car body, for othertypes of car bodies are well known to those skilled in the art.

Referring' more particularly to Fig. l, the car body a shown is onewhich is adapted for carrying such material as coal, stone, sand,gravel, cinders,'or other material that can be properly loaded in anopen car and which is adapted to be dumped from the car, but, ashitherto stated, I do not limit myself to the design of car body shown.I have illustrated stakes upon the exterior of the car body, a number ofeach of which is preferably made of malleable iron, so as to affordhollow spaces therein for the reception of certain of the mechanism tobe hereinafter described, though I do not wish to be limited to thelocation of parts of the operating mechanism within the hollow interiorsof the stakes, but I prefer to locate parts of the operating mechanismwithin the hollow interiors of the supports for the purpose ofprotecting said parts from t-he weather and to enable the stakes toperform the double function of supporting the sides of the car body andthat of housing the said parts of the operating mechanism. In theform oft-he invention shown, I provide a` plurality of swinging floor portionsc c, though I do not wish to be limited to the employment of theplurality of swinging floor portions. I desirably so construct the carthat it may be unloaded from both sides, to which end I provide aswinging floor portion c upon each side of a center sill d, the adjacentends of the floor portions c being desirably hinged to the center sill,the floor portions c forneing, with the top portion of the center sillor flooring supported upon the center sill, the floor for the car body.Each swinging {ioor section employed in the car (one or more, as thecase may be) is desirably provided with a pintle rod e mounted upon the'sill d and affording a. hinge mounting for the associate swinging floorportion. I unite an actuating element 7 at a point sufficiently removedfrom the swinging mounting of the swinging floor portion to secureproper application of power to the swinging floor portion to effect itsready elevation to a horizontal position by manual efl'ort.

` This element f is in the form of a bar which projects upwardly fromits associate floor portion, which bar may enter the interior of anadjacent hollow stake when the associate floor portion occupies itshorizontal and load-holding position, said swinging floor portion beingswingingly mounted at one edge and having its free edge extendinglongitudinally of the vehicle and adjacent to a side of the vehicle whensaid floor' portion is shut, the aforesaid bar being attached to theswinging floor section in theneighborhood of said free edge.V

In order to simplify the design ofthe car body and to permit of theproper movement of the bar said bar is preferably flexibly united withthe floor portion c, as by means of a pivot g. The bar f, in thepreferred embodiment of the invention, is a rack bar, the teeth there-ofbeing adapted to be enga ged by an operating pinion h.. `When theoperating pinion zl is rotated by manual effort, it will effect theelevation-of the bar f and thereby the elevation of the contiguous floorportion. When the said pinion is re leased, the load upon the swingingVfloor portion will force the depression of the swinging floor portion,so that material may readily be discharged from the car. Any suitablemeans may be employed for limiting the extent to which the floor portionmay be depressed by the load to be discharged therefrom. A suitableexpedient forthis purpose may reside in an. enlargement of the upper endof the bar f into a noseV f1, which by hanging over the associate pinionL, will engage with the pinion to limit the downward movement of the barj", the side of the car a preventing the movement of the bar f away fromsaid pinion. j

I have now described the mounting of a swinging floor portion and two ofthe actuating elements, namely, the rack bar f and the pinion 7i, foreffecting the elevation of the lioor portion and permitting itsdepression. I will now describe the mechanism which I employ foreffecting the manualA operation of the pinion t for the purpose ofelevating the associate floor portion.

The pinion 7iv is fxedly secured upon an operating shaft i, an actuatingratchet wheel 7c being ixedly mounted upon the same shaft. ifi dog' orholding pawl Z is mounted upon the side of the car, and by engagementwith teeth of the ratchet wheel lc, serves to hold said ratchet wheelfrom rotation and from rotation, whereby-the bar f is locked in place.

Assuming that the har f' is in its lower position and is to be raised,in order to raise the associate floor portion, the ratchet wheel 7c isrotated by means of the actuating lever m which has its inner end shapedto engage between the teeth of said ratchet wheel. A downward movementof the handle a will cause a rotation of the ratchet wheel le, theholding pawl Z escaping the teeth of said ratchet wheel when -it is thusrotated. The handle in, in order to be permitted to have another stroke,must be disengaged from the teeth of the ratchet wheel, to which end itis desirably pivoted at a to a split housing o that is adapted to rotateupon the hubs p of the ratchet wheel Zi, whereby the inner end of thehandle m may be swung out of the plane of the teeth of the ratchetwheel, whereupon the handle my may be elevated and again swung int-o theplane of the ratchet wheel to have fresh engagement therewith,whereafter the ratchet wheel may be again rotated by the downwardmovement of the handle to effect further rotation of the shaft 2f andthe pinion h fixed thereon.

It, goes without saying that each step in the rotation of the pinion Iteffects an elevation of the bar f, the handle m being` operated asufficient number of times to effect a. complete elevation of the bar j'and the associate floor portion. Some suitable means is provided forholding the handle mechanism in its upright position, such as the loop g(Fig. 4).

When the load is to be discharged from the car, the handle m. is swungout of the plane of the teeth yof the ratchet wheel 7.1;, the holdingpawl Z having been released and pushed backward7 whereupon the weightupon the associate floor portion c may eect the depression of said iioorportion, the ratchet wheel 7c, the shaft z' and the pinion /i beingunchecked in their rotary movement, because of the disengagement of theholding pawl and the handle m from the ratchet wheel The housing' 0 Fig.6) .vhen held in an upright position by the handle m and the link g,serves to prevent the holding pawl Z from leaving its engagement withthe ratchet wheel 7c, so that the floor portion is absolutely retainedin its horizontal position.

I have thus far described but oneset of actuating elements f, 7i., 7c,mi, etc., through the agency whereof a floor portion may be raised andwhich'will permit the floor portion to be lowered. One rack bar f, onepinion hy and parts immediately associated therewith would be suflicientto effect the elevation of a floor portion, but inasmuch as the rack barshould be so disposed as not to interfere with the load of the car, Ipreferably provide two rack bars for each swinging portion, one uponeach outside corner of the Hoor portion, and where this construction isadopted, the shaft i is made common to the two pinions i that would thenbe associated with each floor portion, whereby but one operatingmechanism 7c, m, etc. may be required. There there are a plurality ofswinging floor portions upon the same side of a. car, the shaft 2' maybe made common to all of the pinions /zy associated with these floorportions. Very frequently the cars are so long as to make it undesirableto raise all of the floor portions upon one side of a car by the samelever mechanism, in which event I divide the swinging floor portionsupon each side of the car into groups; for example, as indicated in Fig.2, each group having an actuating mechanism common to the floor portionsin each groupr Throughout the drawings the gears 71., the rack bars fand the mechanism for operating the gears zy are given similarcharacters of reference.

It will be seen that I have provided a vehicle having aI swinging floorportion, actuating mechanism including a rack bar projecting upwardlyfrom the floor portion, an operating pinion cooperating with said barand mounted upon the vehicle body and adapted to move the bar to effectthe elevation of the floor portion, a ratchet wheel rotating with thepinion, a holding pawl for maintaining the ratchet wheel and pinion in aposition to which they have been rotated, and a handeoperated leverprovided with a ratchet wheel-engaging pawl and mounted to rotate in aplane transverse to the plane of movement of the ratchet wheel, therebyhaving separable engagement with the ratchet wheel, whereby the ratchetwheel may be rotated by the lever, when engaged with the lever, andwhereby the load in the vehicle may effect the depression of the licorportion when the holding pawl is released from engagement with theratchet wheel and the lever is swung out of the plane of the teeth ofthe ratchet wheel.

While I have herein shown and particularly described the preferredembodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto, aschanges may readily be made without departing from the spirit, but,

Having thus described my invention, .I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent the following?- l. A vehicle having a swinging tioorportion, actuating mechanism including a bar projecting upwardly fromthe floor portion and having connection with the same at a substantiallyunchanging part of the iioor portion, and an operating elementcoperating with said bar and mounted upon the vehicle body and adaptedto move the bar to effect the elevation of' the floor portion, andmanually operated mechanism for governing the operation of the actuatingmechanism and separably associated therewith, whereby material carriedin the vehicle may of its own weight effect a depression of the saidfloor portion, said swinging floor portion being swingingly mounted atone edge and having its free edge extending longitudinally of' thevehicle and adjacent to a side of the vehicle when said floor portion isshut, the aforesaid bar being attached to the swinging floor section inthe neighborhood of said free edge. Y

2. A vehicle having a swinging floor portion, actuating mechanismincluding a rack bar projecting upwardly from the floor portion andhaving connection with the same at a substantially unchanging part ofthe floor portion, and an operating pinion coperating with said bar andmounted upon the vehicle body and adapted to move the bar to effect theelevation of the floor portion, and manually operated pawl mechanism forgoverning the operation of the actuating mechanism and separablyassociated therewith, whereby material carried in the vehicle may of itsown weight effect a depression of the said floor portion, said swingingfloor portion being swingingly mounted at one edge and having its freeedge extending longitudinally of the vehicle and adjacent to a side ofthe vehicle when said floor portion is shut, the aforesaid bar beingattached to the swinging floor section in the neighborhood of said freeedge.

3. A vehicle having a swinging lioor portion, actuating mechanismincluding a bar flexibly united with said floor portion and projectingupwardly from the floor portion and having connection with the same at asubstantially unchanging part of the floor portion, and an operatingelement coperating with said bar and mounted upon the vehicle body andadapted to move the bar to effect the elevation of the floor portion,and manually operated pawl mechanism for governing the operation of theactuating mechanism and separably associated therewith, whereby materialcarried in the vehicle may of its own weight effect a depression of' thesaid floor portion.

4. A vehicle having a swinging floor portion, actuating mechanismincluding a rack bar fiexibly united with said floor portion an dprojecting upwardly from the floor portion, and having connection withthe same at a substantially unchanging part of the floor portion, and anoperating pinion coperating with said bar and mounted upon the vehiclebody and adapted to move the bar to effect'the elevation of the floorportion, and

manually operated pawl mechanism for governing the operation of theactuating mechanism and separably associated therewith, whereby materialcarried in the vehicle may of its own weight elfect a depression of thesaid floor portion.

5. A vehicle having a swinging floor portion, actuating mechanismincluding a rack bar projecting upwardly from the floor portion andhaving connection with the same at a substantially unchanging part ofthe floor portion, and an operating pinion coperating with said bar andmounted upon the vehicle body and adapted to move the bar to effect theelevation of the floor portion, a ratchet wheel rotating with thepinion,a holding pawl for maintaining the ratchet wheel and pinion in aposition to which they have been rotated, and a hand lever carrying apawl and thereby having separable engagement with the ratchet wheel,whereby the ratchet wheel may b-e rotated by the lever, when engagedwith the lever, and whereby the load in the vehicle may e'ect thedepression of the floor portion when the holding pawl is released fromengagement with the ratchet wheel and the lever is swung out of theplane of the teeth of the ratchet wheel. Y

6. A vehicle having a swinging floor portion, actuating mechanismincluding a rack bar flexibly united with said floor portion and projecting upwardly from the floor portion and having connection with thesame at a substantiallyunchanging part of the floor portion, and anoperating pinion coperating with said bar and mounted upon the vehiclebody and adapted to move the bar to effect the elevation of the floorportion, a ratchet wheel rotating with the pinion, a holding pawl formaintaining the ratchet wheel and pinion in a position to which theyhave been rotated, and a hand lever carrying a pawl and thereby havingseparable engagement with the ratchet wheel, whereby the ratchet wheelmay be rotated by the lever, when engaged with the lever, and wh-erebythe load in the vehicle may effect the depression of the floor portionwhen the holding pawl is released from engagementv with the ratchetwheel and the lever is swung out of the plane of the teeth of theratchet wheel.

7. A vehicle having a swinging floor portion, actuating mechanismincluding a rack bar projecting upwardly from the floor portion, anoperating pinion cooperating with said bar and mounted upon the vehiclebody and adapted to move the bar to effect the elevation of the floorportion, a ratchet wheel rotating with the pinion, a Aholding pawl formaintaining the ratchet wheel and pinion in a position to which theyhave been rotated, and a hand-operated lever provided with a ratchetwheel-engaging pawl and mounted to rotate in a plane transverse to theplane of movement of the ratchet wheel, thereby having separableengagement with the ratchet wheel, whereby the ratchet wheel may berot-ated by the lever, when engaged with the lever, and whereby the loadin the vehicle may effectthe depression of the iioor portion when theholding pawl is released from engagement with the ratchet wheel and thelever is swung out of the plane of the teeth' of the ratchet wheel.

8. A vehicle having a swinging floor portion, actuatingmechanismincluding a rack bar projecting upwardly from the iioorportion, an operating pinion cooperating with said bar and mounted uponthe vehicle body and adapted to move the bar to effect the elevation ofthe Hoor portion, a ratchet wheel rotating with the pinion, and ahand-operated lever provided with a ratchet wheelengaging pawl andmounted to rotate in a plane transverse to the plane of movement of theratchet wheel, thereby having separable engagement with the ratchetwheel, whereby the ratchet wheel may be rotated by the lever, whenengaged with the lever, and whereby the load in the vehicle may effectthe depression of the floor portion when the holding pawl is releasedfrom engagement with the ratchet wheel and the lever is swung out of theplane of the teeth of the ratchet wheel.

9. A vehicle having a swinging Hoor portion, a rack bar having pivotalconnect-ion therewith, which connection, in operation, is substantiallyfixed in location with respect to the rack bar and floor section, anoperating pinion arranged adjacent to the side of the vehicle andadapted to `engage the rack bar to actuate the same to lift the swingingfloor portion, and retaining means for maintaining engagement betweenthe rack bar and pinion, while at the same time permitting the lower endof the rack bar to swing inwardly while the floor portion is beinglowered, said swinging oor portion being swingingly mounted at one edgeand having its free edge extending longitudinally of the vehicle andadjacent vto a side of the vehicle when said floor portion is shut, theaforesaid bar being attached to the swinging floor section in theneighborhood of said free edge.

l0. A vehicle having a swinging door portion, a bar having pivotalconnection therewith, which connection, in operation, is substantiallyfixed in location with respect to the bar and floor section, anoperating element arranged adjacent to the side of the vehicle andadapted to engage the bar to actuate the same to lift the swinging floorportion, said bar being in traveling engagement with said element andretaining means for maintaining engagement between the bar and saidoperating element, while at the same time permitting the lower end ofthe bar to swing inwardly while the floor portion is being lowered, saidswinging iloor portion being swingingly mounted at one edge and havingits free edge extending longitudinally of the vehicle and adjacent to aside of the vehicle when said floor portion is shut, the aforesaid barbeing attached to the swinging floor section in the neighborhood of saidfree edge.

ll. A vehicle having a swinging floor portion, a rack bar havingflexible -connection therewith, at a substantially unchanging part ofthe floor portion and an operating pinion arranged adjacent to the sideof the vehicle and adapted to engage the rack bar to actuate the same tolift the swinging floor portion, said swinging floor portion beingswingingly mounted at one edge and having its free edge extendinglongitudinally of the vehicle and adjacent to a side of the vehicle whensaid ioor portion is shut, the aforesaid bar being attached to theswinging iioor section in the neighborhood of said free edge.

l2. A vehicle having a swinging floor portion, a bar having flexibleconnection therewith, at a substantially unchanging part of the Hoorportion and an operating element arranged adjacent to the side of thevehicle and adapted to engage the bar to actuate the same to lift theswinging floor portion, said bar being in traveling engagement with saidelement, said swinging floor portion being swingingly mounted at oneedge and having its free edge extending longitudinally of the vehicleand adjacent to a side of the vehicle when said floor portion is shut,the aforesaid bar being attached to the swinging floor section in theneighborhood of said free edge.

18. A vehicle having a swinging floor portion, a rack bar havingconnection therewith,

and an operating pinion adapted to be in mesh with the rack bar andarranged adjacent to the side of the vehicle and adapted by its rotationto cause the rack bar to travel and thereby lift the swinging floorsection, said swinging floor portion being swingingly mounted at oneedge and having its free edge extending longitudinally of the vehicleand adjacent to a side of the vehicle when said Hoor portion is shut,the aforesaid bar being attached to the swinging floor section in theneighborhood of said free edge.

14. A vehicle having a swinging floor portion, a bar having connectiontherewith, and an operating element in shifting engagement with the barand arranged adjacent to the side of the vehicle and adapted by itsoperation to cause the bar to travel and thereby lift the swinging ioorsection, said swinging floor portion being swingingl f mounted at oneedge and having its free edge extending 1ny naine this 21st day ofFebruary A. D., longitudinally of the vehicle and adjacent to 1908.

a side of the Vehicle when said floor portion is shut, the aforesaid barbeing attached to AUGUST E SCHULTZ' 5 the swinging iooi1 section in theneighbor- Witnesses:

hood of said 'free edge. L. Gr. STROH, In Witness whereof, I hereuntosubscribe G. L. CRAGG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

